Army of Internet trolls, led by comedian John Oliver, take down FCC website

Former Daily Show reporter John Oliver turned in a fantastic 13-minute clip on the issue of net neutrality during the latest taping of his new HBO show, Last Week Tonight . 

For those who missed it, the clip in its entirety is located at the bottom of the article. If you don’t have the 13 minutes to spare then, in short, Oliver dissects everything that is wrong with the proposal, which seeks government approval to allow web service providers like Comcast and Time Warner to charge for better service, or “fast lanes”, on the Internet. 

The proposal, which was put forth by FCC chairman Tom Wheeler, has drawn strong criticism: Not only would the consumer wind up paying more for the service, but startup companies likely won’t be able to foot the higher costs associated with a well-run site. 

Several public interest groups have spoken out against the measure, including major tech companies like Google, Facebook, and others. Most recently, Oliver took his turn: 

“What's being proposed is so egregious that activists and corporations have been forced onto the same side. And you might wonder, if everyone is against this, how is it even possibly happening? … The guy who used to run with the cable industry's lobbying arm is now tasked with the agency tasked with regulating it. That is the equivalent of needing a babysitter and hiring a dingo.”

At the end of the clip, the British comedian pleaded with Internet commenters, specifically the “trolls” of the web: 

“For once in your lives, focus your indiscriminate rage in a useful direction. Seize your moment, my lovely trolls!” 

He then pointed the audience to the Federal Communications Commission’s website, specifically its public commenting system, which was set up as a forum to receive and review suggestions on how the Commission should enforce net neutrality. 

The clip aired last weekend — doing a quick review back to May 15, the FCC comment section has received north of 45,000 comments to date. Separately, the FCC says it received 300,000 emails in a special inbox set up in just over a month’s time. 

Traffic to the comment / message pages following Oliver’s call to action was so high, in fact, that the agency had to send out a number of tweets saying the site was malfunctioning due to “technical difficulties” it was experiencing from higher than average traffic to the site:

Oliver’s call to action certainly drew attention to the issue of net neutrality. If you’re interested in lending your voice to the masses, head here. 

Note that the commenting period ends June 27.

John Oliver’s net neutrality clip below:

Story via nerdist.com